Converge
by justboredokay
Summary: Ripped, torn apart and violated, Sakura is left with more haunting ghosts than before, but she is split because the light of her existence picks her up. He is not known for delicacy or affection, but he might just have the right touch. SasuSaku


**Converge**

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

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**Chapter 1

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She was sleeping on the soft earth with some brown, decaying leaves piled on top of her, like a shabby blanket. Actually everything was so warm and so soft that she forgot that she was sleeping in some foreign forest, with no strength left to fend for herself. She forgot that her clothes were thin and ripped, and that she had more major injuries than she could count. And last night, when she was just running and running, all by herself away from the predator, was just a far off memory, a mere nightmare.

Occasionally her eyes would blearily open, but she'd just close them again, and doze off. There was no point anyways, she had nothing left, and it was so hard to get up. She didn't think she had it in her to pick herself up and make her way back home. And so she slept.

--

He was traveling through the forest, his three companions dodging the trees beside him. They were wanderers now, having accomplished their goal, yet exiled from every known country. Still, they survived, after all they were all individually skilled in that area, and if came to it, they could always stay in some obscure town where the people were either too weak or scared to report them. They could live on like this forever, it didn't matter really, and there were plenty of ways to die if they didn't want to grow old together.

_Grow old together_, his mind went numb at the thought. Really, he was never for dying young, but he never expected that he would be here, forever traveling with three rogues like himself, taking care of each other but never being able to truly _care_ for heach other. And least of all with she, the fiery redhead who was forever peering at him behind his glasses asking, just _begging_ for him to make a move because she would comply, oh she would comply.

And the blue haired man, with teeth resembling that of a shark's, who carried his gigantic sword with pride. Lately he had been rambling a lot about the great Kisame, and Sasuke took it as a sign of hopelessness. He'd been killing a lot more when he thought that Sasuke didn't notice, sometimes even plotting with Juugo for secret kills, and that made him wonder if they were all going insane.

They had nothing to offer, nothing to achieve, and all they really had was each other.

--

Eventually she knew she had to wake up, after all, there were people waiting for her, and her heart ached just thinking about what Ino-pig was going through, how Naruto might've been sent out to find her. She knew she would be hard to find. If her chakra was once a blazing fire, possibly sensed from miles away, it was now feeble, like leftover coal, barely glowing from heat.

It wasn't like her to take so long to recuperate, but after what happened, she didn't feel like searching for the remaining bits of her integrity. She feared there would be none left. Because wasn't it she who couldn't fight back, and felt weakened just by his perverse stare? She, who merely cried at his attempts to satisfy himself?

It wasn't the first time that she had encountered an enemy who enjoyed taking advantage of females, but this time she had faced him alone. At first she fought confidently, making strategic moves and feeling that victory was on her side. But when her movements became more laborious, she saw the leer that he'd been hiding, and realized the great strength that she was up against. He had barely tipped his chakra reserve whereas she had already used up a great deal of her own. After a few more moments of taking caution, she decided to risk it. After two heavy blows into the torso, her opponent got serious and delivered attack after attack. She was being pushed to the very limit of her body when he delivered the fatal blow. With a horridly twisted ankle, a broken right arm and several broken ribs, the kunai in her thigh finally made her collapse. She thought it would be the end when she tilted her head up and faced her death. But she only caught a glimpse of his shining eyes before he was on top of her, cutting through her clothing and touching her bare skin with his bloody hands. Sakura jumped at the slightest touch and was suddenly charged with a new power, originating from the dry, burning wells of desperation. She swiped and kicked and punched wherever she could until he bound her wrists together so tightly that the chakra strings bit into her skin.

Then he was touching her everywhere, bruising and breaking her skin wherever his rough hands or teeth desired and she was screaming, with nobody around to help. She earned a harsh slap in the face when she kneed his nose as a reaction to him biting her inner thigh. Then all she could remember was the taste of blood, and dull panic at the movements of his fingers. Her mind blanked out as she focused entirely on summoning what was left of her chakra, it was slow, but she felt it growing at the pits of her stomach.

Her moment came when he lifted himself off to unbutton his pants and staring at his erection, she gave one thrust with her knee and he was crouching, shouting obscenities-and breaking his connection with the chakra string. She quickly untangled herself and accessed the situation. She was in power. He was still hunched over from the pain and…and she had a kunai.

It was hard to know what justice meant.

But to her at that point in time, was a fate worse than death for the man. Nonetheless, without a word, she slit his throat.

Then she ran.

--

Juugo was sniffing the air, looking perplexed.

"I smell blood, I think we should go check it out," he frowned.

Suigetsu sipped his drink leisurely, apparently unmoved by the new discovery.

Karin rolled her eyes. They kept moving.

"It's like a decaying animal…except it's human...Do you think it's a corpse?"

Karin had already sensed this particular chakra when they were a far way off. It was feeble, calm and green, like a resting spirit. But she also recognized it from before; it was a kunoichi from Konoha. No matter what, she wouldn't let Sasuke be bothered with that country.

"What are you, the undertaker?" she snapped.

Nevertheless curiosity got the better of the Uchiha as well, although knowing him; he was probably calculating how this would affect their path, looking for a way to eliminate any obstacles.

"Karin."

Normally she'd nod, knowing what he wanted her to do, but this time she objected.

"Sasuke-kun, I don't think it's any of our busi-"

He shut her up with just a blank stare. She blushed and changed direction. They were still far away from whatever was lying at the floor of the forest, but she already had a bad feeling about this intruder.

--

"_Would you look at that, pink hair! Let's play with her."_

"_She looks badly hurt, should we-?"_

"_Don't touch her."_

_Two pairs of footsteps stopped (one had a slight drag to it while the other was heavy)._

_One remained. It was quiet, of a moderate voice._

"_Sakura."_

_That was strange, why was someone saying her name?  
"Sakura."_

_What a beautiful voice, fleetingly familiar. She could wake up and find out who it was, _or _she could continue to sleep. But that voice…It reminded her of heartache and…_

"Sakura."

She woke up with a start. She knew that voice. Of course she knew that voice. Her eyes blinked open and there he was. Sitting before her, his hair ruffling in the breeze and pale hand clutching his katana.

The sight of him made her forget all the reasons why she wanted to sleep and never wake up. She couldn't remember why she felt that the rough and bug-infested ground was warm and safe.

"Sasuke-kun," she breathed as she sat up.

Life was good. Life was great.

One slight lean on her left arm reminded her of all the injuries she'd obtained, but she felt energized from her continuous slumber.

Then she felt him looking at her strangely.

Oh. Her clothes, or lack of. She blushed with shame as she pushed her knees together, remembering that he had torn off her underwear. Her shirt consisted of tattered cloth barely hanging on to her frame.

A redhead who seemed irritated at Sasuke's stare threw her a big jacket from her bag and muttered something along the lines of, "Ch..Lying naked in the middle of the forest, how classy."

A boisterous laugh came from the lips of a white-haired man.

But she only stared, hands grasping the jacket weakly. She stared at the man who could make everything right with his mere presence. She hadn't seen him for so long, and after everything that happened, when she was ensured that she'd never see him again…But here he was, right in front of her.

Sasuke broke their contact and started to stand up.

"Juugo, give her what she needs, and we'll leave."

No. Not leaving, please don't. Don't leave.

"Sasuke-kun, please. Could we just sit for a moment?" she pleaded.

His face remained stoic for a moment. And then he sat back down.

--

He didn't particularly care why she was in such a state, but he was intrigued by her healing capabilities. After stuffing herself with their feeble leftovers, she had begun to reconstruct her damaged bits. Her palm glowed with a green orb as she concentrated on the gash on her thigh.

"Sakura." Her eyes darted up.

"What happened."  
He regretted his question immediately when a slight breeze lifted the tips of her shoulder-length hair and revealed a neck covered in bruises and lovebites, although the term 'lovebite' seemed inappropriate in this situation. He also remembered the state of her clothes.

She paled and looked down, continuing to heal herself.

"I…I was weak," she said in a guarded voice. Was there also a hint of bitterness? Sasuke looked to the side. The others were getting impatient.

"Will you help me set my arm?" she asked, raising his eyebrow at him.

He wordlessly walked to her side and waited for her instructions. As she talked him through the procedure, he barely listened to her as he stared into her sharp eyes. It was strange seeing her, stranger even that there was no animosity. Did she really still hold the same feelings, after all this time?

"Are you ready?" she smiled slightly.

He nodded. He pulled fast and hard in the direction she told him and heard a strained scream. Then she fell into him. He found it interesting when she stepped away as quickly as possible, as if she didn't want him to get the wrong idea.

Slowly, she transformed from looking battered to just tired with bruises-a lot of bruises.

She turned to him, smiling a huge smile.

"Thank you, Sasuke-kun. I'm really glad I bumped into you."

"Hn."

He gave Karin, Suigetsu and Juugo a nod (the signal for them to go) before he looked back one more time.

"Sakura. Take care."

He wondered if that was too much. But those two words seemed obligatory considering the condition he found her in. Maybe it was.

"Wait! Sasuke-kun," she said, voice growing louder with urgency.

He realized he probably shouldn't have stayed behind to listen to whatever she had to say, but he did.

"I-I promised myself I wouldn't come to this. But…I…I really can't go back to Konoha, right now. Would you mind if I stayed with you for the time being?"

The silence stretched on. On and on like the forests he traveled in. But for some reason, with her standing in front of him he felt anchored, like he wasn't a drifting soul. And he rather missed having someone other than Karin call him 'Sasuke-kun.' She took his slow answer as hesitation. He couldn't help but notice how pretty, yet pathetic she looked as her hands fluttered to her neck, eyelids fluttering as well in retaliation.

"I…I won't be dead weight this time, I promise. I can cook, clean, although I guess you wouldn't really need that, but most importantly, I can heal! That's useful right?" she struggled trying to be convincing.

He only gazed at her, this face so familiar yet different.

And her mouth was still moving.

"Sakura?"

She looked up at him, corners of her mouth twitching downwards, eyes narrowed in anticipation for a swift rejection. It never came.

"You can join us," he said, "For the time being."

She smiled up at him, chest lifting significantly, ready to sprint when…_crack._

"Ah!" she cried as she reached down to soothe her weak ankle.

"Let Juugo carry you."

A doubtful look at the peaceful giant.

"Okay."

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**A/N: hi guys did you enjoy that? this is me coming out with a new fic...finally, instead of updating my other ones :P sorry anyways PLEASE REVIEW!!!! **


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